Something does unite you all
though – players. Or, put more
accurately, players’ behaviour.
Behaviour determines a number
of things. Progress, learning and
development are all affected by
players’ behaviour. Some are
away from the sport and fall
under the lifestyle category, but
the one that affects the coach
the most is a simple question of
coachability – how easy are your
players to coach?
Coachable players are the exact
opposite of the biggest
challenge for a coach – the
‘know it all’! This player does not
go to training with an open mind,
has a fixed mindset and does
not open themselves and
embrace new knowledge.
To be coachable, a player should
be:
•
•
•
•
•
approachable
attentive
receptive
curious
resilient
•
•
•
•
•
•
open-minded
objective
trusting
adjustable
confident
reliable.
What is true, however, is that
these factors are not fixed and
can be developed. We can affect
players and make them easier to
coach. The important factor to
consider is to what extent can
we make players self-aware?
Can they accurately self-reflect?
Can they set goals and be selfcritical without being negative
and pessimistic about
themselves? These are highorder skills that need working on
over a period of time.
I WANT
TO LEARN
I BRING AND
USE THE
CORRECT
EQUIPMENT
COACHABILITY
I ATTEND
REGULARLY
AND ON TIME
I CAN
COMMUNICATE
WITH OTHERS
A great starting point is to
make players more coachable.
Such is its importance,
coachability forms a quarter of
the Embed the Pathway
programme, and aims to
improve the ability of players in
four important areas:
1. I Want to Learn
2. I Can Communicate With
Others
3. I Bring and Use the Correct
Equipment During Training
4. I Attend Regularly and On
Time.
These may seem obvious,
almost patronising, but, playing
devil’s advocate, let’s consider
the implications of not being
able to do these skills – and I
promise you, you will know
players in your own coaching
setting who fall into these
categories!
I Want to Learn
Think of the player who comes
to training and messes about;
sometimes the joker, always
the centre of any distraction.
Do they want to learn? Maybe
they do, but their behaviours
will often block that learning,
so emphasising an
understanding of this is vital,
but not at the expense of fun
and enjoyment, just focus and
concentration at key times.
I Can Communicate
With Others
Some players struggle with
communication. Sometimes
this can be in the ability to use
words to explain, or in
understanding what is said to
them. Others totally
understand things but cannot
verbalise this. Some cannot tell
you their feelings and thoughts,
while others can but they do it
in totally the wrong way.
Fundamentally, the ability to
communicate with you and
fellow players makes coaching
a player so much easier.
5
I Bring and Use the Correct
Equipment During Training
This one seems easy, but it
really isn’t! At a simple level it’s
the player who comes to train
on grass in trainers on a wet
evening, or, as I once found, a
player who brought his boots
for an indoor session and still
wore them! But it can be more
subtle. If players are dressed in
t-shirts and shorts in cold
weather, are they really
listening? Or are they just
shivering and looking forward
to the end of the session? How
important is a drink to training?
A dehydrated player simply
cannot concentrate. Finally,
how important is a coat at
training? Famously in the BBC’s
Dreaming of Ajax documentary
a few years ago, players were
criticised for not coming to
training in a coat. ‘You’re no
good to Ajax with a cold!’ was
the response. Equipment and
its use is a fundamental factor
in the coachability of a player.
I Attend Regularly and
On Time
Rarely does a week go by that a
young player doesn’t hear
statistics on punctuality and
attendance at school. However,
the importance of this is
undervalued. Not only are
punctuality and attendance
vital for manners and
employability, they also affect
learning. Over a 40-week
season (including pre-season)
let’s assume we train twice a
week. That’s 80 sessions. If
training starts at 6pm and a
player arrives at 6.10pm each
time, at the end of the season
they have missed over 13 hours
of learning. This highlights the
importance of starting on time
as a coach, as coachability
applies to you too. Young
people with poor attendance
and punctuality are far more
likely to underachieve.
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